Scott Sonnon
Scott Sonnon is a tactical fitness coach, counter-terrorism and USA national martial art team coachUS Martial Arts Team Acceptance Letter, yoga guruFlow Academy Media Room, and wellness speaker known for training the Israeli counter-terrorism school LOTAR LOTAR Israeli Counter-Terrorism School commendation, movie stars such as Peta WilsonPetaWilson.info "Peta Gets Ready for Roles With Help of Scott Sonnon" and Donna KaranEvLiving.com "Free to Move" as well as Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts fighters such as Alberto Crane, Jorge Rivera, Andrei Arlovski, and Elvis Sinosic. His fitness system, Circular Strength Training, has been adopted as the official exercise approach for the U.S. Army.UltimateGrapplingMag.com article He is also a published author, a public speaker, a member and keynote speaker for Mensa - The High IQ Society MENSA United States 2009, a Graduate Faculty Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University , and is an advocate in the fight against childhood obesity. Early life Sonnon was born in 1969, in Pennsylvania, USA. His family emigrated to the United States two generations before him from the town of Sonnon, district of Passau, Bavaria, Germany. He overcame being legally blind due to myopia and Thygeson's disease, spending his youth in pain with Osteochondrosis and obesity, and suffering learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Scott views his defects as a blessing that allowed him to "see, feel and think about the world in a wonderfully unique way." Training Sonnon is credited as having reintroduced Indian clubs in the form of clubbells to strength training. By 2007 he had been inducted into three halls of fame: the National Fitness Hall of Fame , the International Martial Arts Hall of FameBushido.org Hall of Fame Awards and the Personal Trainer Hall of Fame , and is known to the Sambo and Russian martial arts communities. He is known in the Sambo and MMA community for innovating a "lower-half positional fighting approach"Century Martial Arts: Sambo for MMA derived from Sambo and applied to mixed martial arts and submission fighting competitions which he calls the "saddle" positions.Paladin-Press Career highlights *From 1993-1995, Sonnon was the National Sombo Coach of the United States Sombo Association *1993 Universiade (World University Games) silver medalist in Sambo *1994 Pan-American Sambo champion *1995 USA Grand National Sambo champion *1996 First US instructor licensed in Russian martial art ROSS Systema, appointed North American director of Russian Martial Art Federation *1999-2001 Inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame *1999 USA Police Sambo Coach - World Police Olympic Games (Kaunas, Lithuania) *1999 Awarded Master of Sports in Sambo by American Amateur Sambo FederationAbout Coach Sonnon, Retrieved on 2008-10-13 *1999 Received license as an International Category Sambo referee *1999 USA Bayonet Fencing Team coach *1999 Elected vice-president of the American Sambo Federation *1999 Appointed Combat Sambo chairman to the International Combat Sambo Commission for FIAS (International Amateur Sambo Federation) *2001 Awarded the Leadership Award by International Martial Arts Hall of FameBushido Hall of Fame Award *2003 Received official patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office for his clubbell design used for "Circular Strength Training" *2005 International Sanshou champion *2007 National Fitness Hall of Fame Nominee *2007 Personal Trainer Hall of Fame Inductee *2007 Accepted position as the conditioning advisor for the International Youth Conditioning Association. *2007 Accepted Graduate Faculty position at Virginia Commonwealth University *2008 Appointed combat advisor to the World Kettlebell ClubAmerican Kettlebell Club blog *2009 Master of Ceremony (emcee) for the world's largest fitness expo Arnold Schwarzenegger ClassicArnold Schwarzenegger Classic Official Website *2009 Appointed Mobility and Movement Skills Director to the International Kettlebell and Strength AcademyIKSA Official Website *2009 Keynote Speaker for Canadian Personal Trainers Network Annual Conference CPTN 2009 Conference Website *2009 Keynote Speaker for Mensa International Annual Conference MENSA Annual Gathering Official Website *2009 Appointed Russian Sambo advisor to USADOJO Board of Advisors USADOJO Board of Advisors Official Website *2009 Appointed Physical Training and Conditioning advisor to USADOJO Board of Advisors USADOJO Board of Advisors Official Website *2009 His Circular Strength Training System became a part of the "Best Gyms in America" (Fitness Magazine) - Equinox Fitness Clubs http://www.equinox.com/GroupFitness/ConsciousMovement.aspx *2009 Qualified to compete and accepted invitation to coach the US Martial Arts Team for the 2010 World Martial Arts GamesUS Martial Arts Team Acceptance Letter *2009 World Record Club Swinging in under one hour with regulation weight (1,433 Mill repetitions with 25 lbs Clubbell) Vimeo video proof Personal life Sonnon lives with his wife and two children in Bellingham, Washington. Bibliography *''RMAX Magazine'' (2003-2008) ISSN 1555-7723 *''Mastering Sambo for Mixed Martial Arts'' (2008) ISBN 978-1-58160-686-7 *''Free to Move: The Intu-Flow Longevity System'' (2008) ISBN 978-0-9794275-6-5 *''Prasara Yoga: Flow Beyond Thought'' (2007) ISBN 978-0-9794275-4-1 *''The Big Book of Clubbell Training'' (2006) ISBN 978-0976356066 *''Clubbell Training for Circular Strength: An Ancient Tool for the Modern Athlete'' (2003) ISBN 978-0971794924 *''Body-Flow: Freedom from Fear-Reactivity'' (2003) ISBN 978-0971794931 Pop culture Star Wars: The Cestus Deception was dedicated to Scott Sonnon by its author Steven Barnes, who lists Sonnon's teachings as the inspiration for the creation of the "Jedi Martial Art" training. Sonnon is also given a character honorarium in the story: "Scott OnSon." References External links *Scott Sonnon, the Flow Coach Category:American mixed martial artists Category:People from Pennsylvania Category:1969 births Category:Living people